Candidates Vie for State Chief, Board Seats

Voters in North Carolina, Montana, and Washington will pick new
state school superintendents next week, while Indianans will decide
whether to give the incumbent chief another four-year term.

In addition, candidates in 10 states and the District of Columbia
are running for a total of 51 seats on state boards of education,
according to the National Association of State Boards of Education.

The most noteworthy state-board election will occur in Texas, which
is switching back to an elected board after a four-year period in which
members were appointed by the governor. Only five current members are
seeking election, thus guaranteeing at least 10 new members on the
15-seat panel.

Political Influence

Texas had a 27-member elected board until 1984, when lawmakers
passed HB 72, the state's landmark school-reform measure. A section of
the law replaced the panel with a 15-member appointed body for four
years in an effort to shield the new reform program from political
pressures.

Last year, Texans defeated a referendum that would have preserved
the appointed board.

Nine of the appointees chose not to seek election. One incumbent was
defeated in a primary, two are running unopposed, and three are waging
battles to retain their posts.

Backers of the reform effort, including Lieut. Gov. Bill Hobby and
the Dallas tycoon H. Ross Perot, have formed a political-action
committee named Texans for Education Excellence and Schools, or texas,
to support eight candidates in the race. The group has raised $5,000
for each of the campaigns and has hired a political consultant to help
engineer the races, said June Carp, a texas official.

"Mr. Hobby's concern was that the quality [of board members] remain
high," she said, adding that "we want to make people aware of the
gigantic role the state board now plays."

Public Awareness

Ms. Carp and others noted that raising Texans' awareness about the
board election was important because the candidates' names will appear
near the middle of the lengthy state ballot. Education advocates say
they fear that because this is also a Presidential-election year, many
voters will not pay close attention to the board races and instead will
simply vote for a straight party-line ticket.

"The school-board race depends on how Texas goes in the Presidential
election," said Ermalee Boice, assistant executive director of the
Texas State Teachers Association.

Ms. Boice said it was difficult to predict how education policy
would shift under the new board, given the guaranteed change in its
composition. Returning members, said board member Geraldine Miller, who
is unopposed, will have to take a more active leadership role "so we
make sure we stay the course and try to keep the reforms in place, yet
be reasonable and be willing to modify where we need to."

State Chiefs

Meanwhile, elections for state superintendent of education are being
held in the following states:

Indiana. The Republican incumbent, H. Dean Evans, is being opposed
by Mary Petterson, a science teacher at Morton High School in Hammond
and a four-term Democratic veteran of the state House.

North Carolina. A. Craig Phillips, who has served as state school
chief for 20 years, is retiring. The post is being sought by State
Representative Bob Etheridge, a Democrat, and Tom Rogers, a Republican
who teaches at a state correctional school.

Montana. The current chief, Ed Argenbright, has decided to retire
after holding the post for eight years. The Republican candidate is
Barbara Foster, a retired teacher from Townsend. Her Democratic
opponent is Nancy Keenan, a special-education teacher from
Anaconda.

Washington. The incumbent superintendent, Frank Brouillet, has
stepped down to run for the state House. The nonpartisan position is
being sought by Dennis Heck, who served four terms in the legislature,
and Judith Billings, who has served as an aide to Mr. Brouillet for
nine years.--nm & tm

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